I haven't been keeping up with the health care debate all that much (I'm a Canadian citizen) so, I don't know what the lastest is, but I gather as of a week ago at least, the Democrats were trying to get Republicans on board for whatever plan the Senate tried to pass and I remember Barack Obama trying to ensure that Charles Grassley was able to speak at some meeting held a couple months ago.
I gather Charles Grassley is an important player in whatever negotiations take place.
I read in the discussion section on politicalwire.com the fascinating history of the Republican Party: in 1964 Barry Goldwater was considered an extremist far right Republican, now the party has moved so much further to the right that many political commentators regard Goldwater's views as liberal (or at most slightly conservative) leaning libertarianism.
This seems to be the same thing with Charles Grassley. He is, I believe, now considered one of the more moderate Republicans.
Well, whether there is any truth to that or not, you should be aware he is a member of a group called "The Family". Wikipedia describes it on the Charles Grassley webpage as "Grassley is a member of The Family, a Christian group that organizes the National Prayer Breakfast."
It is a lot more than that: Investigative Journalist Jeff Sharlett wrote a book about them: http://www.amazon.com/... and here is how he describes them "As it turns out, the Family was established in 1935 to oppose FDR's New Deal and the spread of trade unions; since then, it has organized well-attended weekly prayer meetings for members of Congress and annual National Prayer Breakfasts attended by every president since Eisenhower. Further, the Family's international reach ("almost impossible to overstate") has "forged relationships between the U.S. government and some of the most oppressive regimes in the world." In the years since his first encounter, Sharlet has done extensive research, and his thorough account of the Family's life and times is a chilling expose. "
http://jeffsharlet.blogspot.com/...
In public, they host prayer breakfasts; in private they preach a gospel of “biblical capitalism,” military might, and American empire. Citing Hitler, Lenin, and Mao, the Family's leader declares, "We work with power where we can, build new power where we can't."
http://jeffsharlet.blogspot.com/...
I learned about this listening to an interview of Mr Sharlet by John Rothman on KGO radio in San Francisco (I downloaded the interview onto my computer and still have it on CD (KGO is quite alright with people doing that). I forget the exact quotes at the time, but I'm pretty sure I recall Mr Sharlett quoting the leaders of "The Family" with poor bashing statements and that they have no problem with the notion that millions of Americans have virtually no access to health care.
Mr Grassley hardly strikes me as a guy the Democrats in the Senate should have any interest in negotiating with.
I suggest rather that the Dems in the Senate demonize Mr Grassley and his association with this extremist group and pass a bill on a party line vote.